methodwriter85

Chapter 9 -When Matt, overcome by his emotions, leaves the hospital. "Just Like A Pill" by Pink -When Matt kicks the shit out of Brad. "Boom" by P.O.D. -When Will and Matt bond, and Matt realizes the shoe is on the other foot. "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional This video makes me want to run out to Hot Topic and get a leather cuff and a vintage ringer t-shirt. Maybe a chain wallet.

I'd never seen Silver Spoons until OnDemand ran them like 8 years ago...typical fun cheesy 80's sitcom. Jason Bateman was the great comic relief on the show. I knew Rick Schroder from his NYPD Blue days and 90's Lifetime Movie Days. He's one of those lucky child stars who seem to transition to adulthood relatively unscathed. Anyway, I kind of figured that if anything, PrivateTim would have to know Beverly Hills 90210. I mean, he basically lived a bisexual version of it, right?;-) West Bev's class of '93 would have been his peers, age-wise. I'm going to guess PrivateTim was the Brandon of his group.

I thought Matt being in the hospital was a pretty dire emergency. He might have been okay and stable and not in critical condition, but car crash injuries have a funny way of turning out to be worse than people think, and you just never know. (Remember the episode of Growing Pains where Carol's boyfriend Sandy dies after a car crash despite initially being okay because his internal injuries were worse than they thought? That does happen.) There's a reason why they have an observation period. If it were Darius or JJ in the hospital, Will would have done the same exact thing, because I can't see a parent not wanting to drop everything and rush to the hospital for their kid. Brad may or may not see Matt as a son, but Will does see Matt as his brother now, and he gave him the brother treatment here.

The iconic pop culture media website, TWOP, is closing its door.It's a total bummer. I grew up on posting on the site. I started posting there when I was 14 years old, in the spring of 2000. That is literally half of my life. I remember back in those days, my posts would likely revolve around the WB line-up...Dawson's Creek, Buffy, Popular (THAT was a big one for me because the board there was really active), Roswell (which was able to have 3 seasons instead of just 1 because the members of then-MightyBigTV banded together to get the show renewed), and Felicity. (I remember the on-going theory was that Ben was going to eventually abuse Felicity- didn't happen, but still.) Then the summer of 2000 happened, and with it, Survivor, and the big boom of the reality show phenomenon. , and that's largely because of the person who recapped it, and declared it one of the nastiest, hateful speeches she'd ever seen on T.V. Reality shows would eventually morph into stuff like The Osbournes and The Hills, but I don't think anything will ever top or replicate the Survivor phenomenon, where you suddenly saw ordinary people being turned into household names because they were appearing as themselves on a t.v. show. (You got a preview of that on the Real World, but Survivor was a much bigger show.) The discussions we had on MightyBigTV as this developed was pretty interesting, and somewhere during this era I learned the term :snark", and it became a part of my personality. Another term that I learned from TWOP in this era, when American Idol hit big in 2002, was the term "eyefuck", which described how Justin Guarini's eyes looked while singing on camera- it was kind of the updated term for the old-timey term "bedroom eyes." After Survivor and American Idol, the next big show that I got into while reading MightyBigTV/TWOP was The O.C., in 2003. It was a hit show that had a lot of posters talking, and loads of controversy, especially over the lack of acting chops of Mischa Barton, and the fast decline in quality of the show, which seemed to have imploded during season 3 but then given a chance to redeem itself during a shortened season 4 run.Here, I picked up the term "bromance" as Ryan Atwood and Seth Cohen had a great bromance. Also at this same time period, I got into the show Veronica Mars, which was tailor-made for a place like TWOP because the show actually had a lot of race, class, and gender conflicts that made for great discussion. In early 2005, my high school classmate appeared on the reality t.v. show on MTV called Made as a "Basketball Jock Who Learns Ballet", and I was so excited and posted a lot about it. He read the site and actually figured out who I was, and the whole thing got out, so I got a little bit of grief about it. In retrospect, that was an interesting lesson for me as a teenager to learn about the idea that what you say and do on the internet can come back to haunt you. Nowadays we hear so much about kids who overshare or post stupid things on the internet, and I kinda felt like a person my age was right at the beginning of all that. As the years went on, the site changed, the way people view T.V. shows changed(just think- in 2000 Ipods didn't exist and now people watch T.V. on them), and the site got more and more regulated. I'm still pretty active in TWOP, but I haven't quite thrown myself into the community the way I used to. Part of it is that at some point, my life stopped revolving around the WB lineup. (Seriously, my 14/15 year old journal entries were all about watching episodes of Buffy and the like.) I also think I took a lot of that enthusasm for discussion that I had with TWOP when I was a teenager and put it into Adam's many iterations of this bar, and Gay Authors. I know Adam rolls his eyes when I go on about the Hunger Games or other pop culture stuff instead of analyzing Mozart's music or pondering Kafka, but I do think it's a good thing to analyze pop culture. It often has a way of putting a mirror on contemporary society, and giving us a sense of where we're at and what we're valuing. (Or not valuing.) Not to mention throw a spotlight on the social issues that are plaguing us. I actually remember being surprised when I watched OnDemand streamings of the 80's sitcom Facts of Life and being surprised at how many of the topics they covered were still VERY relevant to contemporary society- lesbianism, rape, teen suicide, eating disorders, human trafficking, the sexualization of young girls by the media, the push for Abstinence -Only sex education, racism, the treatment of handicapped people, the controversy that can surround a university donation, etc etc. I think TWOP taught me how to argue a point, how to snark, and most importantly, how to analyze a story's characters, writing, and acting. It made me think about how T.V. is often written in cliches and generic formulas, and then wonder WHY those cliches and stereotypes exist. And really appreciate when a show goes against the mold. If a moment on T.V. moved me, I learned to articulate WHY it moved me.And if it left me cold, I learned to articulate why it didn't move me. If I had a problem with the writing or creative direction or acting of a t.v. show, I learned to go beyond just saying "I think Riley on Buffy is a boring male Mary Sue." I think those were valuable things to learn. Generally, I think TWOP had a pretty positive influence on me (although Gay Authors posters can get at me for how intense I can be giving feedback to Mark Arbour), and I'll miss all of the intelligent pop culture analysis. It's so strange- I posted at that place for an entire half of my life. It's basically always been around, so I never thought it might not be around. It's not quite as looming large in my life as it used to (especially back when they had the Off-Topic board and I made a ton of e-friends from there), but it was a part for an incredibly long time (14 years) and I'll definitely miss it.

Here's another nice photo of the Philly skyline, this time looking at City Hall, which was the highest point in the city until 1987.

I watched Judith Light on Dallas, and thought her iteration of an older bitch on wheels would make a great ABC. Or some other really crazy older head bitch in charge. As for Elizabitch...Brooke Shields? I always thought Brooke Shields would have made a great politican's wife. And I kinda figured that Elizabitch had to be someone who was a great beauty in her youth. Brooke Shields was considered the most beautiful woman in the world when she was 15, so...yeah. My other idea for Elizabeth Danfield...Daphne Zuniga? She's always had a great bitchface. You would probably know her best as Jo on Melrose Place. She's also known for playing Brooke's bitchy mother on One Tree Hill. Can I just say that it's nice to see actresses over the age of 40 who haven't turned their faces into immovable monuments to plastic surgery that no longer resemble themselves? *cough* Meg Ryan *cough* Yay for actresses letting themselves age naturally!

Good point- the bulk of this generation can't even legally drink yet. As for Wade, I can see it- but the problem is that he also has his responsibilites to the Danfield clan. It seems like he's the essential head of family now for them, with the Senator gone, and with his constant viligance to neutralize Elizabeth Danfield's power grabs I think he might be stretched a bit thin.

It'd make you about Kinsey 4 or 5. I'm a straight-up 6. I can look at an attractive woman and appreciate her beauty like a painting, but I've never felt aroused by a woman. For me to call someone "bisexual" I think they'd have to be a bit beyond just "straight with some gay experiences" or "gay with some straight experiences"- I'd say at least an 80/20 split.

I don't think there will necessarily be a need for a "head of the family" by the time Will and his co-horts are middle-aged and Brad's co-horts are senior citizens, in the 2020's/2030's. I kinda feel like J.P. really is the end of the line for that. Though Escorial is "home base" for these people, I don't really see the French family system working for them as time goes on, especially given how spread out they all seem to be getting. It's like the du Ponts- they had a family head and almost everyone worked for the family company, but as they became more of a global conglomerate and the family branches spread far out, that faded away. I think what we'd see instead will be someone will take over Escorial and be "family head" in the sense that they hold all the big family gatherings, but being the big decision maker that everyone follows? I can't see that happening- especially since it seems like it's not a foregone conclusion that Darius, Will, John, Marie, and JJ are going to work in the family company (Will seems like he'll at least be an active board member, but Darius, John, and Marie are question marks while I can't see JJ being remotely interested in it), which means that you really don't have the same kind of set-up that you still had going through Brad's generation, where the bulk of everybody there save for Jack was involved in one of the off-shots of the family business in some kind of very invested way. Although if it would be anybody, I'd go with Darius. He seems like the only person with a clear head and ability to get things done with little dramatics and the added bonus is that everyone gets along with him, which can't be said for Will or JJ. Marie seems more like a rebel type, while John seems more like a loyal follower.

Nirvana came out when I was 5 years old, but I had older siblings so I listened to it that way. "In Bloom" is my favorite song by them.

Matt is making me cringe with his desperation, and willingness to accept what he's even deeming as crumbs. Dude, just move on. Seriously. Let yourself grow up and if it's meant to be, it'll happen. Are break-ups between gay men really this dramatic? I mean, the drama between Brad and Robbie made sense because Brad is pretty messed up, but I thought Wade would've kept this on a low, even-keel. Then again, maybe this is what passes for a low-key, somewhat drawn out break-up in CAP World- no property has been destroyed yet, in any event.

Chapter 7 -When Wade and Matt talk, and make plans to see each other makes plans for their lives in Boston and Chicago, respectively. "Here Is Gone" by the Goo-Goo Dolls

In this episode of Teens React, we see kids react to Nirvana, the seminal 1990's band that defined a generation. I love seeing kids appreciating old music from another era. I grew up listening to Motown oldies station, and it's an annoying when people automatically reject something because it's old, and I love that these kids were able to get into this music. Think about it- not one of these kids were alive or even in utero when Kurt Cobain existed. It's great to see that young people today can still find themselves relating to their music. It is mind-boggling to think that Nirvana only released 3 albums, and they've persisted and endured long enough that people are playing their music on classic rock stations.

Cool to know. I know that historically though, as Private Tim once put it, L.A. was the proud anti-city, while San Francisco was the dense Euro-style city, hence why SF has the more iconic skyline. Los Angeles has been defined by being an never-ending sprawl of suburban housing. I remember reading this interesting book, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, which traced the development of Los Angeles's suburban identity through the rise of McDonald's. Here's another article I found though about Los Angeles's changing identity, that asks the question, "What is the new identity for a city whose entire life has been marked by its ability and desire to endlessly expand?" No More Play: Los Angeles on the verge of a new era I wonder if there will come a time when they'll start tearing down the single family homes in places like the Valley and turning them into mid-rise or high-rise apartment/condo buildings. That could be interesting. How NIMBY are people in Los Angeles? (Houston seems like they'll allow anything, while San Francisco seems farrrrr more NIMBY.)

Now that's just hilarious. One Direction is so much better than Justin Bieber, anyway.

The latter is Broderick Tower, which has been renovated and brought back to life, but the former is Book Tower, which is still abandoned.

So, Generation X (generally defined as the people born from 1965 to 1980, but some definitions include people born in the first half of the 60's) is getting ready to move towards middle age. Derided as a generation of Latch-key slackers in their youth, how does this generation handle their entry into mid-life? This Salon.com article ponders as such: Generation X gets really old: How do slackers have a mid-life crisis? I feel like we've been bombarded by the media and in the arts about the Baby Boomers and their entry into middle-age (American Beauty seems like the defining mid-life crisis movie for that generation), so I'm looking forward to seeing another perspective as the vanguard of Gen X turns 40. (With the older members crossing into 50-something territory.) I do think they've got a lot interesting things going on- they were a generation that hasn't been defined by a war, an assassination, or major social upheaval. I like their argument that it was the divorces of the 1970's as well as the recession of the early 1990's and then, of course, The Great Recession that really defined who Gen Xers are as a people. I've always kind of looked up to Generation Xers as like the cool older brothers and sisters in their flannels and techno speak, so it's going to be cool to see how they define middle-age as opposed to their Boomer counterparts.

2002 in general though was kind of a quiet year- there was the bombing in Bali, the D.C. snipers, and the corporation collapses, but it wasn't insane like 2001 was, or 2003-2005. As for redemption...Mark redeemed a child molester. Seriously, a child molester. Seriously, there is close to nothing in CAP that can't be forgiven if the person actually wants redemption and works at getting it. These people in general don't hold grudges they never let go of as opposed to how real-life people can be. I always kind of wondered what a marriage between two Alpha former frat guys would be like. I kind of figured it'd be a bit like the friendship/relationship between Matt and Andy of Cross-Currents, where they alternate between tender and loving and then getting into massive blow-out fights. LOL. According to Reddit a lot of bro-types are settling down into gay marriages and families, so that's an interesting image to have.

Let's just be glad that they're not heading to Bali in October.

Not a bad idea; however the song isn't period.

Chapter 6 -When Matt sees Wade, and feels happy and hopeful for their future together. "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling -When Wade makes it clear to Matt that he doesn't want to be with him and they are not getting back together. "Foolish" by Ashanti -When Matt mopes about Wade's firm and final "No", and makes a resolution to get over him and start over. "New Slang" by The Shins

If you had told me back when Poor Man's Son came out that we'd have a chapter where the family genuinely celebrates Zach's 17th birthday, I wouldn't have believed you. So it seems like Matt has FINALLY gotten that's it over.

Los Angeles NightFall Also: Southern California's Road Back Los Angeles's population is still growing, so you can't call it a rust-belt, but I wonder if it will ever hit the point where it can't grow anymore and begins to stagnate. If L.A. stays a pro-low density city, it seems inevitable that they'll hit a wall. Suburbs can't expand indefinitely.

Well, I'm sure we'll get some cameos from Wade, especially once school starts.

Wicked. Right. It's basically the Boston equivalent of "hella."